


Destiny

by BrowsoftheTaiga



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Fluff, M/M, Walking Dead AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-04 10:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11553414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrowsoftheTaiga/pseuds/BrowsoftheTaiga
Summary: A story that takes place in a world where every day is a poisoned gift and even good memories hurt, and all the 'what ifs' and the 'should haves' might kill you before other things get the chance.





	Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> 2 things you need to know:
> 
> Everything I know about TWD came from the TellTale games.
> 
> Everyone speaks English in this.

The weather was so hot and humid despite the late evening hour. The summer sun was getting low in the sky; its light creeping through the leafy roof of the forest, shining down onto the group of men and women that were setting up a camp, nearby a narrow car path. 

The most hard-working members of the group were constructing a fire on bare dirt, conversing about random things while the lazier ones were simply resting on the ground, either asleep or taking part of the conversation and cracking jokes. There were people of different generations, different social backgrounds, different genders, but what they all had in common were the firearms they carried and the green symbol painted on their clothes. 

Two members of the group were slowly strolling around the camp, automatic rifles in their hands and eyes roaming around, making sure the area was completely safe. They were distracted, however. Often paying too much attention to the rest of the group, lowering their guard to join in the conversation and add a crude comment here and there, making almost everyone burst into loud laughter. 

The atmosphere was uncharacteristically joyful and relaxed; no doubt it had something to do with all the cardboard boxes filled with supplies sitting inside of the white vehicle that was parked in the middle the car path. The trunk was wide open - everything inside of it, completely displayed. Those people were undoubtedly convinced that nothing intelligent enough to steal those supplies could possibly be around.

Overly confident and clearly distracted with their joy, none of them had noticed the big body that had been crouching behind a large set of nearby bushes for the past ten minutes, and the pair of midnight-blue eyes that had been watching them through leaves and branches the whole time.

The man who was silently observing the group wore dark jeans that were stained with blood and a pair of black leather boots on his feet. He was shirtless; his dark skin filled with a few old scars and several scratches and cuts, bruises and mosquito bites. He had a black, empty gym-bag on his right shoulder and a black shirt loosely wrapped around his head - the sleeves tied at the back of his skull and the collar leaving the area around his eyes clear while the rest of the fabric completely covered up his face and hair, hiding his identity.

While he used his eyes to observe the people that were in his field of view, he used his sense of hearing to focus on the footsteps he could hear approaching the van. He couldn't see anyone there, the vehicle blocking part of the view, but he could hear twigs breaking under the weight of the person who was slowly walking behind it. He tried his best to ignore the loud laughing that came from the camp to focus on those particular footsteps, hardly breathing. After long, interminable minutes, those footsteps began to grow quieter, indicating that the person was walking away, and as if on cue, the person finally came into view, slowly making their way towards the group. 

Eyes darting around one last time before settling on the white vehicle, the man crouched as low as he could and silently made his way towards the van, carefully watching where he put his feet, making his steps as light as he possibly could - knowing that everything would be over if he made a wrong move.

Daiki ran fast, even as exhausted as he was nowadays, but he didn't run faster than bullets.

Yet, despite the life-or-death situation he was in, his heart was beating slowly in his chest, completely unaffected. He couldn't feel any adrenaline rush whatsoever, couldn't feel anything at all, like he was completely dead inside.

At times, he wondered if it was a telltale sign that he just didn't care about living anymore.

But as he crouched by the back of the van, the extreme relief he felt rushing through him as he approached all those tin cans and water bottles made him think that he might actually still care, at least a little. 

Not wasting time, he immediately began inspecting the contents of the cardboard boxes, expertly spotting what would or wouldn't be worth being an additional weight on his back. Nothing there could be used as a weapon, he noted. He vaguely noticed a few bags of rice, but paid no attention to them - as incredibly tempting as they were, the noise the plastic would make was too much of a risk. 

Instead, he chose to focus on tin cans of food, his hands moving fast and quietly as he filled his bag with those and added a first-aid kit and water bottles. It was only a matter of seconds before his bag was full and heavy. Once done, he took a step back, ready to walk away. He unconsciously threw another look at the contents of the trunk, his gaze falling on pairs of shoes, plastic bags filled with fruits, folded blankets, and finally, the shirt that was messily folded in a corner, underneath two small bags of rice.

Daiki's sharp gaze immediately softened.

The colors and the fabric were unmistakable: it was a Chicago Bulls jersey, almost completely intact, and the simple sight of it had him struck with a powerful wave of nostalgia, nearly drowning him in just a split-second as he stared at it with a longing gaze.

Hadn't he been rational enough, Daiki might have given in to the idiotic urge of getting those plastic bags out of the way and picking up the shirt - to risk his life just to see which player's it was. 

But, still sane enough and not suicidal just yet, he quickly shook off the ridiculous thought instead. He took his eyes off the jersey, his gaze growing distant again as he pushed those deep emotions away and took more silent steps back, eyes darting around to make sure no one would see him.

Moving farther and farther away from the van, it was a matter of seconds before the camp sounded quiet in the distance. As soon as he reached that point, he promptly pushed off the floor and ran away.

The new weight in his bag had considerably increased his mental strength, but it did nothing positive for his physical strength. Daiki was pathetically breathless after just a few seconds, lungs burning as much as they would during his most intense work-outs, and soon enough, he couldn't hear a thing over his own ragged breath and the blood rushing to his ears. 

Luckily, the run didn't have to last too long. Daiki stepped out of the forest after a few minutes and stopped in the middle of a wide asphalt road that divided the woods into two parts. He could feel sweat rolling down his forehead and the back of his neck, and his chest was heaving as he glanced around, finding the only green car among all those abandonned vehicles effortlessly, a dozen meters further on his left.

Avoiding big pieces of broken asphalt and the few car-parts that laid here and there, he began jogging towards his car, and was almost instantaneously interrupted when something suddenly emerged from the other side of the road. Daiki stopped dead in his tracks, nearly bumping into whatever had suddenly appeared from behind a car husk and was now crossing his path. He pulled his crowbar out of his open bag, ready to swing it, when his eyes locked with a pair of dark, glassy ones that were looking up at him in surprise, making him realize before it was too late that what had appeared before him was nothing but a little girl.

...Which didn't necessarily mean he was safe.

His very first thought was that this had to be some sort trap: a kid used as a bait to make him let his guard down. It had happened to him, years ago, and after managing to escape, Daiki had learned to never be naive again. 

So he took a step back, glancing around in suspicion before eventually looking at her again, only to find that pair of slightly glassy, dark-purple eyes staring up at him for long, quiet seconds.

If Daiki had to try and guess, he would say that this little girl was nine years old. Her skin tone was a shade darker than his, her dark-purple hair naturally curly and pulled back into a bun. She was wearing a plain green tank-top and dark, ripped up jeans with a pair of black boots, and a black backpack. Her breath, Daiki noticed, was just as short and out of rhythm as his own.

After staring down at her for a few additional seconds, Daiki opened his mouth to speak.

"The fuck you doin' here alone ?" was the very eloquent thing he asked, his deep voice cracking from disuse for so long, muffled with his shirt.  

He cursed internally as, instantaneously, - and understandably - the little girl's jaw grew tight with tension and the corner of her lips turned down slightly. At her left side, Daiki noticed her left hand moving with agitation and slight hesitation, her small fingers nervously tapping against the--

The handle of a gun.

And just as soon as Daiki's gaze fell onto the weapon, the little girl took a small step back and pointed it right at his head.

"Shit. Wait." he said, abruptly raising his hands up in the air, only realizing how brusque and simply  _fucking stupid_  the gesture was when the girl tensed up, her eyes wide open in surprise as she took additional steps back to make sure she was out of the crowbar's reach, which - Daiki had completely forgotten - was still in his hand.

Daiki let out a short shaky breath of relief, knowing just how  _lucky_ he was that a bullet wasn't lodged in his brain after he had made such a stupid move. 

Unable to take his eyes away from the gun pointed at him, he noticed that, despite the gesture he had just made, the girl's finger wasn't on the trigger.

Not yet.

He stared at her silently, trying to find the right words to say or the right thing to do to gain her sympathy. Daiki had never come across a child with a gun before. Were they less cruel than adults ? More cruel ? 

"...Wait." he repeated, slowly bringing his hands behind his head to deliberately untie the sleeves that were tied there in a loose knot. It was probably stupid, but it was the first thing he could think of - perhaps he would look less threatening if he showed her his face ?

He let the piece of clothing slide down his head and settle on his broad shoulders, and as he sucked in a deep breath of 'fresh' air and felt the heat of the sun gently warming his face, Daiki saw the frown on the girl's face disappear as her eyebrows rose up in what seemed to be... surprise ? 

He wasn't quite sure, but whatever it was, she finally lowered her gun, and Daiki could finally breathe again.

He glanced around once more, eyes thoroughly roaming around and searching for a sign that other people were hiding in the woods. When he found none, and when more seconds passed, the thought that she was a bait started quickly dissipating.

Not to mention people wouldn't use an armed child as a bait.

...Or would they ?

He looked down at the girl again, who was staring up at him like she wasn't sure what to do. Her expression was on the stoic side, but Daiki could clearly see the glint of fear in her eyes. He didn't like being the cause of it.

So he crouched down before her, running his free hand down the back of his head and ignoring how sweaty his hair felt as he spoke up, looking her in the eyes, "My bad... I must've sounded rude, huh ?" his voice now freely traveled through the air, slightly gentler than earlier, yet he still sounded way harsher and looked way colder than he wanted to, "I'm... a little rusty. Haven't talked to anyone in forever." 

Cautious and doubtful, the girl took a hesitant step back, and Daiki glanced down at her left hand to see that her grip was still tight around her weapon, slender fingers nervously clenching and unclenching around it.

Then, he let his gaze settle onto her right hand - which, he finally noticed, was actually completely nonexistent: what remained of her left arm stopped at the wrist with a stump. 

Daiki looked away immediately, not wanting to stare and make her uncomfortable. His eyes flicked back to her dark eyes, which were still boring holes into his face. She was almost glaring and clearly still distrustful.

"So, uh..." he awkwardly scratched the side of his neck, "Why are you alone ?"

The girl stared at him for a while, worrying her bottom lip, seemingly trying to decide whether she should answer his question. It might have only been his imagination, but he could have sworn her eyes had gotten glassy again. Her jaw clenched once more, and she looked down for just a slight second before looking at him again and opening her mouth.

But the sound of branches cracking and leaves ruffling cut through the silence before her voice did, and both Daiki and the little girl turned their heads towards the noise that came from the part of the forest that the little girl had ran away from. Daiki's grip instantaneously grew tight around his crowbar, while the girl pointed her gun towards the thick bushes.

After seconds of holding his breath, Daiki saw a woman emerging out of the wilderness. She looked his age, thirty years old, and her light brown skin was covered in bruises, cuts, dirt and just way _too much_ blood that probably wasn't only her own, considering she could stand. Her black clothes were torn and her dark, short hair was damp with sweat, her cheeks tinted with pink and her breath nothing but rapid, short gasps.

Still distrustful, all of Daiki's attention was focused on the woman - a potential threat. She didn't notice him as she walked through shrubs, hissing as she cut the skin of her bare arms in the process. From his peripheral vision, Daiki vaguely noticed that the little girl had lowered her gun.

And just as she did, the woman noticed her, a pained smile crossing her pretty features, "I managed to lose the--" she stopped when her attention fell on Daiki, and the soft expression on her face changed instantaneously as she pointed her gun at him, hand steady, upper lip pulling into an aggressive snarl, "Get the hell away from her."

Daiki took a long breath in. Not a fan of having a gun pointed at him, and knowing better than to piss a mother off - if that woman was even the little girl's mother - Daiki slowly raised his hands up in the air and took a few steps away from the child, his eyes never breaking contact with the woman's sharp brown ones as she approached, rapidly making her way between two abandoned cars.

Suddenly, something hooked her leg and sent her tripping forward, arms first onto the broken asphalt. Just as her body ruthlessly hit the ground, the threatening sound of deep, throaty growls emerged from underneath the vehicle on her left.

"Shit !" she cursed, her panicked gaze falling onto the pale, rotting hand that was tightly wrapped around her ankle. A decomposing head emerged from underneath the car, snapping at her like a hungry animal and struggling to bring its remaining rotting teeth closer to her leg.

Still cool-headed enough not to fire her gun, knowing better, the woman swung it at the creature's head instead, only making its dreadful growling grow louder and high-pitched. With pained, exhausted grunts, she swung the gun again, and again, until the fourth impact made the creature's skull bend inward spectacularly with a disgusting cracking sound.

Finally, the grip around her ankle loosened up and the dead body stopped moving. 

But then the gruesome growling started again, and before she could even breathe, another living corpse used its remaining arm to clumsily crawl out from under the car, making its way towards her. This time, not leaving her the time to react, Daiki appeared by her side and violently brought down his heavy boot onto the creature's skull, crushing it surprisingly easily compared to the few times he'd had to do it this way. 

The frightful growls finally stopped, and besides the sound of the woman's and Daiki's heavy breathing, it was silent again.

The woman looked up at him, eyebrows rising up in surprise for a short moment before she pushed herself to her feet with a huff of effort, "...Thanks." she breathed, glancing around to find the little girl, who was now approaching her with a relieved expression on her face. The woman spread her arms and crouched before her, pulling her into a tight hug, and the girl hugged her back and let out a relieved breath.

Daiki glanced at the part of the woods those two strangers had come from. He assumed more walkers were in this part of the forest, and that the girl had ran away, thinking the woman was a goner.

He looked at them again, watched as the woman regulated her breathing and pushed a strand of curly hair away from the girl's face, giving her a small smile that... almost looked forced from Daiki's point of view. The woman then glanced at him, and they looked at each other silently for a few seconds. She then opened her mouth to speak, and this time, the sounds of ruffling came from the other side of the road, where Daiki had previously come from. A muffled, masculine voice shouted.

"What's goin' on here ?!"

Daiki cursed internally, turning around to face a gray-eyed man, who had an AK-47 in his hands and was dressed in all black - all black besides the green logo painted on the bandana that hid both his nose and mouth. Those gray eyes narrowed and stared at Daiki for a short moment, and suddenly, a loud, obnoxious laugh came from the stranger, shaking his body as he cackled and turned his head in the direction of the woods to shout, "You guys won't guess who stole from us !" 

Thinking fast, Daiki, the woman and the girl all took advantage of the man's inattention and went to hide behind a car husk. With his height, Daiki had to be half laying on the ground, his upper back and the back of his head pressed against the rear wheel. The girl and the woman were crouching next to him, "Is that a bandit ?" the woman whispered.

The stranger was finally done laughing, it seemed, as he shouted again, "Show yourselves or I'll start shootin' !" 

"Yeah." Daiki answered quietly, clicking his tongue, "This is bad. There are too many of them."

The woman watched as the stranger was now stepping onto the road, his eyes darting around, "The other way is infested with walkers." she said while the bandit yelled, ordering his partners to hurry and join him, "And with all the noise this fucker's making, they're probably coming our way."

"I have a car." he stated simply, hoping this wasn't going to be a bad decision. Daiki wasn't going to let innocent people get killed if he could avoid it, especially not a kid. But it was still risky. That woman and that girl had guns. All he had was a crowbar, a small knife and his remaining physical strength.

The woman glanced at him, "Which one ?"

"Green one over there." he tilted his head in his car's direction.

"Unlocked ?"

Daiki nodded.

"Destini." the woman whispered, her sharp gaze back onto the bandit, "I want you to run to that car and hide inside of it. If a walker is too dangerous, you shoot it."

The girl didn't have to be told twice. Staying low to the ground, half-crawling, loping like an animal on its four legs, she moved in the direction of the car, incredibly silently and fast, her missing hand nothing but a mere detail.

The woman then looked at Daiki, "We need to distract this bastard."

Daiki immediately picked up a chunk of asphalt and silently got on his knees, trying to stay as low as possible. He moved closer to the woman to check where the bandit stood, and threw the piece of asphalt as far as he could, accurately hitting a big piece of metal that laid on the opposite of the road, the noise just loud enough to catch the bandit's attention. The man pointed his weapon towards the noise and began to walk towards it, and Daiki and the woman didn't wait any longer to start moving, getting on all fours and following the little girl, who was already opening the car's rear side door.

Unfortunately, the sound of the door being opened was enough to catch the bandit's attention, and the man immediately started shooting. Bullets began connecting with Daiki's car and the carcass behind which he was kneeling in rapid successions, and the girl jumped inside of the car and shut the door close while the woman cursed, straightening up and firing her gun.

The bullet pierced through the man's thigh, forcing a cry out of him and making him stop shooting. As soon as bullets stopped coming, Daiki hurriedly moved to the vehicle and opened the passenger's door, and bullets began coming again as soon as he jumped onto the passenger's seat.

Because of his built, Daiki had trouble switching to the driver's seat. While he struggled, the woman fired her gun one last time and followed, jumping onto the passenger's seat and cursing when her body harshly connected with his boots. She shut the door close while he wasted precious seconds trying to get his long legs in the right position, and once he finally succeeded, Daiki turned the ignition and immediately started the car.

And suddenly, the bullets stopped coming.

He accelerated, and he could still hear the bandit firing his weapon, but it seemed he was shooting towards an entirely different direction now. Daiki's eyes flicked up to the rearview and he watched a bunch of walkers slowly stumbling and crawling out of the wilderness, attracted by all the racket the armed man had made. Seconds later, bandits came running from the other side of the woods and began shooting the small crowd of walking corpses, helping the gray-eyed bandit back to his feet. 

Eventually, Daiki drove along the curve of the road, turning left, leaving all those people and their mess behind as they disappeared from his view.

**Author's Note:**

> (i reread this chap so many times correcting mistake after mistake and now my brain is fucked and this chap literally makes no sense in my head)
> 
> i rly like that fic and i got the whole plot planned and stuff written in advance so i'll try to update it often
> 
> note that i said "try"


End file.
